DUST 514’s Open Beta Goes Live Today

Pioneering PlayStation community! We’ve reached an exciting milestone in our development of DUST 514: the open beta. Some of you may already be familiar with the concept after having followed our dev blogs or news articles, or perhaps you have been helping us in the closed beta. But some may be hearing about this for the first time. I would like to give you guys a quick overview on the game, and the new phase of development, the open beta.

DUST is a PS3-exclusive triple-A free-to-play MMOFPS (massively multiplayer online first person shooter), directly set in and connected in real time with the science fiction universe of EVE Online.

What that means is that not only is DUST a full-fledged MMOFPS in its own right, with unrivaled persistence and customization, it also coexists on the same servers as its older PC sibling, EVE Online. DUST and EVE share several game systems such as mail, text and voice chat, corporations, the in-game market and more.

Not only are the players of the two games able to communicate with each other and belong to the same social institutions, they can also interact in real time. Spaceship captains of EVE Online are able to provide real-time support in the form of orbital bombardments to the boots on the ground, the DUST 514 mercenaries, all while coordinating in a shared voice chat.

Mercenary? Empire Builder?

In DUST, you are an immortal clone soldier. Initially you are a mercenary, and at any point in the game you are free to choose your own path.

You accept contracts issued by warring corporations, in the process earning both ISK (Interstellar Kredits, the in-game currency) and skill points. With these earnings you purchase and upgrade skills that affect your in-game abilities, in addition to unlocking advanced equipment such as dropsuits, weapons, vehicles, modules and more.

The game features an in-depth dropsuit and vehicle customisation system that allows you to define your role on the battlefield to respond to whatever tactical situation you may encounter. Battles are fought in districts located on planets in the EVE Universe (we have about 7,000 temperate planets out of a total of 50,000). Districts are generated with modular components where the type and location of the planet are taken into consideration, the goal being to make every battle experience unique (there are literally billions of combinations).

Now, in the beginning you may limit yourself to accepting contracts from warring NPC corporations, but over time you may find like-minded individuals to group up with and form a Corporation, which is our version of a clan or guild.

As an organised corporation, you and your colleagues may decide to venture out into the great unknown and claim your own piece of territory, thereby affecting the political landscape of the New Eden universe. You might even find yourself forging alliances with EVE players, and through a combined effort, performing coordinated strikes upon your enemies.

Free to Play

DUST is completely free-to-play for anyone with a PS3 and can be downloaded directly from the PSN store. There are no restrictions. All features, maps, game modes, skills, dropsuits, vehicles and module groups are fully accessible, and since it’s a massive multiplayer game you’ll never run out of content; the war never ends.

While DUST 514 does offer exclusive items that must be bought with AUR credits (our microtransaction currency, purchased through the PSN store), it’s important to note that these items do not provide players with an unfair in-game advantage. Unlike most other console games, our expansions are free to download. While you can purchase AUR items for real money, in the game, you will never need to pay for a map pack. DUST is a free to play MMO that will be maintained and evolved for years to come.

Always Evolving

DUST has been in closed beta for about a year now, with a small group of dedicated players that have given us invaluable support and assistance with their feedback and suggestions. The game has gone through an amazing transformation this past year. We’ve released multiple patches and expansions, each bringing performance improvements, new features and bug fixes. We have gone from our own small development servers to the much larger shared EVE / DUST test server (Singularity), and we’ve done countless character wipes and inventory resets along the way.

These last few weeks have seen tests of core DUST / EVE link features such as the corporation system and orbital bombardment, and a major migration of DUST from its closed test servers onto Tranquility (EVE Online’s global server).

We are now ready to open the game up to a wider audience by moving to an Open Beta. There will be no more character wipes or inventory resets. We will lift all access restrictions to our servers. Anyone with a PS3 and a PSN account can download the game, create a character and join in on the fun. We will be updating the game regularly, soliciting feedback from you on our forums, balancing and tuning, replacing and polishing.

This is a first of its kind in gaming, a merging of two communities from two very different game genres, in real time in the same setting and on the same server. Already players in both games have formed corporations and alliances. Emergent tactics are cropping up all over the galaxy. This would not be possible if it hadn’t been for the amazing support we have had from our friends at Sony, our shared vision for the future of online gaming, and the openness of the free PlayStation Network.

We couldn’t be more excited to be part of this and we hope you join us on this journey.

98 Comments

been playing the for a while and I mean at while its a good game. People please have a very open mind when playing this game and don’t quit after a day. The game has a extremely high learning curve and a very deep system hopefully CCP made a better tutorial for new players to understand the game.

Everybody needs to remember that this is still a BETA version. A number of enhancements still need to be made to bring it up to the level that MAG is at. I’m sure CCP will be working on them diligently in the coming months. CCP’s EVE MMO has been around for 10 years and has grown its player base each year so this should give us PS3 users some confidence that CCP is in this for the long haul.

I would like to know why some of your development staff are telling players on the forum that the open beta is the commercial release of the game, while some are saying it isn’t.

It would be nice if your team wasn’t spreading misinformation.

Also I would like to know why you are removing the “AUR and merc pack items will be reimbursed upon full retail release” term from the aforementioned items product description? Especially seeing as most spent their AUR to experiment in the beta with the promise from you, CCP, that it would be given back upon release.

Tried it for a while and stopped. The learning curve is pretty high. A suggestion I have for CCP though is to make the entry barrier a but easier. All the menu’s and even the classes at the beginning was a bit much. More hand holding please!

Congratulations CCP! The first E3 trailer I saw two years ago made me join EVE Online in anticipation for Dust 514. I’m excited that it’s finally available to the masses. I have two questions. When can we expect the Vita app and will the Dust market cross over with the Eve market?

@13 Id rather not judge a game based on its beta…. I made that mistake with dc universe online and a year later when it became free to play I tried it and although not great it held my attention a full 2 months as opposed to the betas 30 minutes before i deleted it…. so Id rather wait until dust is “finished” before giving it a go.. but at the same time Id like to see what others think about it (ppl; who can actually write in depth reviews and not those “this game sucks, it laggy and the hit detection stinks” kinda people

One of the cool things about this game is that CCP will make improvements throughout the life of the game like they’ve done with Eve. With free to play AND all expansion free, you can’t lose for trying.

umm who said the expansions would be free? also all MMOs get updates/patches for years.. but those updates/patches are usually in the form or new content in minor tweaks/.. not still fixing stuff that should been working right at day one of launch

youre basically saying “if the game is lagggy with bad hit detection right now thats fine because CCP will be updating it for years like they did with EVE… so the lag and hit detection should be fixed in a year” ummm stuff like that shouldnt take a year to fix… how long was EVE laggy and had bad hit detection?

Finally more variety on the PS3, i’ve been in the beta for awhile as well. I personally like the game,it does have a steep learning curve but nothing i couldn’t get past.For those crying about the game go & get yourself a Wii U there’s plenty of linear games for you to play,that doesn’t require your brain to do alot of thinking LOL

@17 i dont think you understand the difficulties of creating a video game, CCP has been working on Dust for a while and have drastically improved the beta since i joined it last June. Great work you guys!!! i cant wait for the Dust app for Vita! Wish i could sign up to test it or something.

For your first complaint, its not retail version, but the last reset it done. In otherwords, that AUR will not be reset, those skills will not be reset, everything you have will be pulled over to when they decide it is ‘retail’

Whats the difference between a retail version and an open beta of a persistent game like this? (as there will always be addons and new free expansions, like any mmo) Some of the promised features they said would be on release are not in game yet/have not been tested properly. Literally that’s the only difference, but it is a distinguishable one.

Its not just a PR tactic to cover themselves, the game they gave said over and over again will be developed slowly as to not effect the living creature that is Eve Online. Have to keep in mind what they are doing and that is why there are delays. Imho they should move a little quick with features then they have, to give them a proper test, but still i understand the overcaution.

no edit button.. that response was kind of rushed :( but you get the point im sure.

To everyone else, hop in on the beta! Ready to get some fresh meat in there, no offense to the current avg closed beta player, but they are horrible. Hopefully the new bluedots will be a bit better on their feet once they get the time to adjust.

When will there be the trophy patch? I don’t mean any disrespect in anyway, but most people won’t play if there aren’t any trophies. I’ll play regardless but they give me additional replayability to the game.